Zenyatta is perfect and now the decision must be made

The “other” female horse won the Lady’s Secret at Santa Anita Saturday, winning by 1 1/4 lengths and pushing her unbeaten streak to 13 races, tying Personal Ensign’s mark, set back in 1986-88. Now there is only one mountain left for the 5-year-old to climb.

She has to beat the boys before she calls it a day. Zenyatta is not going to face Rachel Alexandra, the snappy 3-year-old filly from the East. Rachel is done for the year and, unless the connections of both horses decide to run against each other sometime in early 2010, the dream matchup won’t happen. Zenyatta is scheduled to be retired after this season although her people have said she could run early next year.

With the Breeders’ Cup looming, owners Jerry and Ann Moss and trainer John Shirreffs have to decide which race they are going to run Zenyatta in: the Ladies Classic against her own kind on Nov. 6 or the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic against the boys the next day.

If you ask me, Rachel Alexandra is Horse of the Year right now and she should be Horse of the Year when the ballots are counted in early 2010. The only way Zenyatta can wrestle the title away from Rachel is if she wins the Classic on Nov. 7. And that would still be a longshot. Rachel beat the boys three — THREE!!! — times this year. Zenyatta has never done it.

Will some voters hold it against Rachel because she isn’t going to run on the plastic track at Santa Anita? They might. But if they do, they should have their voting rights taken away. Rachel has done more.

Certainly, Zenyatta could narrow the gap if she wins the Classic against the boys. But she can’t win Horse of the Year. If that were to happen, I quit horse racing.

No decision was going to be made after she won the Lady’s Secret.

“We’re not sure,” record man Jerry Moss said after it was over. “We certainly have to see how she’s doing, obviously. We want her to do well and be safe and be happy, but, we also want to see how much she has got in her tank so, we’ll see what happens.”